The Paris-based asset manager TOBAM has opened an office in New York, led by two new managing directors from Amundi, as the firm expands in North America.

The Paris-based asset manager TOBAM has opened an office in New York, led by two new managing directors from Amundi, as the firm expands in North America.

Stephane Detobel and Francis Verpoucke will be responsible for business development and relationship management with US investors.

Detobel joins TOBAM after 12 years with Amundi in Europe and North America. He began his career in 1993 as a senior auditor at Deloitte Belgium, subsequently joining State Street Global Advisors in Brussels as head of client servicing for Continental Europe. In 2001, he joined Amundi Benelux and then in 2008 created Amundi USA to start and run the firm's activities in the US.

Verpoucke also joins TOBAM after 12 years with Amundi in Europe and North America. He began his career in 1996 as an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium, and then, like Detobel, moved to State Street Global Advisors (Brussels) as a client service officer. He then started working at Amundi to cover the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg markets, before joining Amundi USA in 2008 to take charge of business development and client servicing for US investors.

TOBAM has been pushing into the North American market for some years now, having linked up in 2009 with third-party marketer Investeam in Canada and then in 2011 receiving SEC approval as an investment advisor.

TOBAM manages $5.4 billion in assets as of November 2013, 90 per cent of which come from outside of France.